A camera was found in front of the house of some anarchists. It was placed inside a black box, on the roof of a restaurant located in front of the house.
A camera and a microphone were found on a bike in Bavaria, Germany. They were hidden under the bike seat, inside a container resembling a tool kit. The device consisted of a main unit (~ 12 x 12 x 0.5 cm) connected to a camera (max 1 x 1 x 1 cm), a microphone, a battery (25 x 5 x 4 cm, Li-ion, 3.7 V, 60 Wh, 16.0 Ah), a modem (EM7565 Sierra Wireless), a SIM card (Telekom), a GSM antenna and a 4G antenna (Antenova SR4L002). The camera pointed outwards through a very small hole, directed at the entrance of the home under surveillance — it was impossible to identify it with the naked eye. A few minutes after the surveillance device was spotted and removed, the suspected spies came to retrieve their bike.
Two cameras were found in the streets, near self-managed political places. Each camera was in a box attached to an electric pole. They were able to film the entrances and surroundings of the places. They were present — possibly on and off — since 2019. After the discovery of the first camera, the second one was removed by the State intelligence services.
A surveillance camera was found at the entrance of the village, pointed towards the home of an environmental activist. The camera, barely emerging from the ground, was covered with brambles and grass. It was connected to a Pepwave router and to two cases containing high-tech lithium batteries labeled Accuwatt, hidden in a ditch, under a tarp and a camouflage net.
High-technology batteries found alongside the cameras were marketed by the company Accuwatt, specialized in batteries for armies and law enforcement agencies.
Three surveillance cameras were found overlooking a popular inn. They were buried in a hill at a certain distance from the inn. They included a transmitter and a battery pack.
A listening device was found in an allotment area. It was disguised as a rock. It contained two microphones.
A surveillance device was found inside the smartphone of the campaign manager of a Russian anti-corruption activist. It included a SIM card, microphone, GPS tracker, and a microcircuit to amplify the radio signal. Some of the phone components were modified to make room for the surveillance device. The device was installed when the owner of the phone was in custody and her phone confiscated. The device was probably installed by the FSB (Federal security service).
Four cameras were found near the “ZAD du Carnet”, a place of struggle against the creation of an industrial area, in Loire-Atlantique, in the west of France. The four cameras, hidden near an access gate to the area, were camouflaged in a fake tree log and fake stones. They filmed continuously and were connected, via buried cables, to large batteries and modems, also concealed, allowing images to be sent directly to a remote station. The mention “Allwan” was visible on some of the images found, as well as on a label on a camera. The cameras were found on August 31, and appeared to have been installed right before a “weekend of resistance” organized there on August 29 and 30.
The mention “Allwan”, visible on images found on the devices, as well as on a label on a camera, suggests that the devices were supplied by the French company Allwan Security.
A surveillance device capable of recording images and sound was found during a gathering in front of a jail. The device was located behind a few stones, in a wall along a path, wrapped up in a black garbage bag, next to the place where this kind of gatherings usually happened. It contained a battery, a SD card, a microphone, and a camera hidden behind a rock where a hole had been made. It seemed that the device couldn't send the data, which was stored on the SD card. An analysis of the content of the SD card showed that the device was activated the 3rd of June and installed on the afternoon of the 7th, the day before the gathering.
The pictures of the device show that a digital video recorder of model DK-PV500E, marketed by the italian company DSE (Digital Surveillance Equipment), was part of the device. This suggests that the device was supplied by the italian company DSE.
Three outdoor surveillance cameras were found outside, at an event organized in support of a struggle against a project of nuclear waste burying center. The cameras were all located along a 250m pathway leading to the event place. Two cameras of model BOLYGUARD MG983G were found laying in the grass and in a bush, 80cm above ground and were covered by a kind of camouflage hairnet. The third camera, of model RECONYX HYPERFIRE SM750, was found on a tree trunk, 1m20 above ground and had a khaki color. The contents of the SD memory cards revealed several things: the devices were placed on the same day very early in the morning (between 3h30 and 4h); the three devices were capable of night vision, two of them were configured to take pictures and one to record video and sound; their placements allowed them to take pictures of the front and back license plates of cars driving on the pathway, and also of people following the pathway by foot; one of the cameras was useless because of leaves in its field of vision.
According to the source that reported the discovery of the cameras, the cameras that were found were marketed by the companies RECONYX and Boly, based in the United States.
- BOLYGUARD-MG983G-en.pdf: user manual of the BOLYGUARD MG983G camera (in English).
- BOLYGUARD-MG983G-fr.pdf: user manual of the BOLYGUARD MG983G camera (in French).
- RECONYX-HYPERFIRE-en.pdf: user manual of the RECONYX HYPERFIRE camera (in English).
A surveillance device was found inside the desktop phone of a journalist targeted for their support to the news organization Wikileaks. The phone, a “Cryptophone” based on the “Snom 870” desktop phone, enabled encrypted voice communications with other Cryptophones. The surveillance device included a battery pack and a shielded module with several electronic components. It was able to record what was said on the phone and could be triggered remotely through radio frequencies to send the recorded data. Components of the phone were modified to install the surveillance device. The surveillance device was probably installed by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).
Three microphones coming with cameras were found in the alleys around a squat. The devices were pointing to the different entries of the house.
The pictures of the devices show that the cameras found were marketed by the italian company Elkron, which became a subsidiary of the italian company Urmet in 2012. This suggests that the cameras were supplied by the italian company Elkron.
Two cameras were found in front of the Asilo Occupato. The devices were concealed in a fake Enel (Italian electricity supplier) electric box attached on the first floor of a building.
The logo of the italian company Gruppo TRS, which was bought in 2012 by the italian company Atet, is visible on the pictures of the devices. This suggests that these devices were supplied by the italian company Atet.
